Today we’d like to introduce you to Angela Hoover.
Angela, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was not one of those kids that jumped up on a cement block and said, “Hey! Look at me! I’m going to sing!” If I did perform as a child, it was in a locked room, in a closet, singing into a hairbrush and making sure no one could hear me. I got embarrassed very easily. My mother helped with that tremendously. : ) She was larger than life and thought everyone was a potential friend. And nothing embarrassed her. I remember her wearing super flared jeans after they were out of style in a grocery store parking lot, and she started running. With a beet-red face from our station wagon, I yelled, “MOM! Don’t RUN!!”
I was born in Philadelphia, PA and moved around (seven different moves to different states) until I was 12 1/2 when we ended up in Southern California. I wanted to be like Carol Burnett. Someone who made fun of herself, made people laugh and brought people together. I also loved observing and imitating people. This definitely would lend itself to celebrity impressions later on down the line. It wasn’t until I was 13 that I tried out for Drama I Honors at Palos Verdes High School. The school was known for placing 1st in the Comedy and Drama festivals year after year and putting on professional-grade shows. My father, who traveled quite extensively, made me go to a high school musical (Godspell) with him one night despite me protesting I needed to stay home and watch Three’s Company.
As soon as that curtain went up, I was on the edge of my chair with my mouth open. The dancing, the singing, the bright costumes. The surge of energy that seemed like it was aimed directly at me. I was hooked. I simultaneously wanted to feel what it was like to be on stage while being able to make an audience feel the way I was feeling too. I stayed in Drama for all four years and won Best Actress each year in my class. My Drama teacher had so much confidence in me. He sent me to a casting director for a film audition when I was 17. This is where I learned, I was HORRIBLE! I had no idea you were supposed to be looking up when auditioning. The only time we did that in high school was when our lines were memorized! A little green maybe?
Lesson learned. I started taking professional acting classes right our of high school. It was at that point, I truly discovered… THAT I WAS EVEN WORSE THAN I HAD THOUGHT. I was overacting, I had no idea how to prepare and there was nothing vulnerable underneath what I was doing. It was a lot harder than I thought. My previous plans to become the next shorter stubbier Julia Roberts was not panning out.
Cut to a lot more acting classes, singing in a Gospel choir, singing lead in a big band, performing in plays and some short films, and I started to get somewhere. Nothing major, just paying my dues. My dad used to send me letters from Miami, saying he wanted me to go after my dreams but not sell all my possessions in the process. From time to time, he would throw some money in the envelope and sign off with “Love you madly.”
My father died in January 1999. The one person I had wanted to see me succeed more than anybody was gone. I booked my first commercial one month later. Then about 29 after that. At a time, I felt most frozen. I was suddenly on a roll. A few years later, I met someone at an entertainer’s conference that asked me if I would go watch her stand-up showcase. I did and was hooked. I started stand-up a month later and have been doing it ever since.
In 2013 I was on season 8 of America’s Got Talent doing stand-up and celebrity impressions and was the last one eliminated before the final 12. (Damn that 16-year-old magic-wielding heartthrob! : ) Then from there, I got a deal with NBC Universal doing a show called Mom’s Movie Minute, began doing press junkets, and finally started booking television shows. A few I have been on: Inside Amy Schumer (I booked it by her seeing me do a project with comedian Tig Notaro and Sarah Silverman) Casual, Lucifer & Insecure to name a few. I had booked tv shows as a stand-up, but as an actress, I didn’t start getting tv roles until my 40’s. (High-five to women 40 and up.)
From there, I added about 50 more celebrity impressions to my roster like Kris Jenner, Kourtney and Kim Kardashian, Martha Stewart, Kellyanne Conway, Kristen Chenoweth, Housewives, Drew Barrymore, Celine, Nancy Grace, Sarah Huckabee, Sofia Vergara and more.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I think we all have a certain vision board in our head of what milestones we are going to reach by what time. When your dreams don’t come to fruition by that time, it’s so easy to think you missed the boat. But you really haven’t. I remember my son was about 13 months old. My husband and I were living in a small apartment in Redondo Beach, CA and he came in and said, “I have some good news and bad news. The bad news is they are laying off half the company. The good news is I have a job offer in Vegas.” Now A) I wasn’t a Vegas person, and B) I hate Vegas.
Long story short, we moved there. With a 14-month-old and pregnant with my daughter, I left my agent, stopped performing, and hung up my acting. I felt like my life was over. All the hard work and momentum that was starting with my career. Now, here I am, going to have two kids under two, in the dead of summer, where we can only go out between the hours of 6-7 am without bursting into. Flames. I was resisting living in Vegas with every fiber of my being. I was absolutely nauseated and miserable.
I thought it I fought it in my head, it would be telling God that I did not want this and maybe things would change. I learned that is not how it works. It’s the opposite. I had to trust and accept where I was. That did not mean become resigned. It meant to enjoy the moments with my babies that I would never get again and trust that if a entertaining career people was meant to be, it would be. I had to make peace with where I was.
When I tell you with zero exaggeration, when I did this, I felt a million times better. I felt lighter and happier and more at peace. And the bonus was I was no longer crying and laying in fetal position. Then I got a call from a friend and comedy club owner Enss Mitchell of the Comedy Union, that someone in LA saw me months ago perform pregnantly and the want to create the first-ever webisode series on Lifetime about a real mom in the trenches. Honestly, I was excited but was used to Hollywood promises and thought it would probably never happen. I wrote a bunch of sample episodes, sent them over and before long they were at my house in Vegas filming what would be four seasons (webisodes) of the show. So the lesson is: Trust Your Life. You never know what’s around the corner. DON’T QUIT. I’ve taken breaks (kids, moves, breaks just because) but I’ve never quit.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
I am mostly known for my wide range of celebrity impressions and my impressions of the Housewives on Bravo. What sets me apart from other comedians? I think the fact that I actually like people? LOL. I know a lot of comedians who don’t. I like connecting with fans. It means something to me when they say they’ve had a terrible day but then spit out their coffee because of something stupid and silly I said or did in God knows what kind of wig. People have said I’m a chameleon when it comes to characters and impressions and I think that is a wonderful compliment.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Acting/the entertainment industry is a fickle profession. There is absolutely no guarantee you will work even if you are very good. There are so many factors at play you can’t control. However, I did get lucky in that Enss Mitchell, owner of The Comedy Union (one of only two black-owned comedy clubs in Los Angeles), saw me the first night I did stand up. He saw something me. He believed in my talent and was generous with his club and his support like no one else in this business. The Comedy Union became a place I felt most at home.
I try to work as hard as I can on every audition, every video, and the rest is up to the gods. At that point, I’ve done my work. I move on. If I can’t move on, and it’s too upsetting, I watch Marriage at First Sight, Australia.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.angelahoover.com
- Email: angela@angelahoover.com
- Instagram: @angelahoovercomedy
- Facebook: Angela Hoover Comedy
- Other: www.patreon.com/angelahoover.com
Image Credit:
Enss Mitchell
AGT photo
One with my kids (Grayson & Riley)
Me, Nick Cannon, Tone and DJ COLY COLE (The Greatest Hypeman in the World.)
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